DOCSLIB.ORG

Editorial : Food Justice and Food Sovereignty in Usa

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Editorial : Food Justice and Food Sovereignty in Usa Number 23, September 2015 www.nyeleni.org - [email protected] editorial : food justice and food sovereignty in usa Food Sovereignty1 emerged as La ViaCampesina’s bold response to the “free trade” regimes destroying livelihoods around the world. It’s been taken up widely across the Global South by communities reeling from the spread of agrofuels,GMOs, land grabs and the “privatization of everything.” One reason for food sovereignty’s popularity is because neoliberal global- ization has concentrated nearly half the planet’s wealth into the hands of just 80 individuals. Food Sovereignty is the cry of the dispossessed. Another reason is that food sovereignty reflects the deep resistance of people’s historical struggles against exploitation, oppression and coloniza- tion. When communities fighting for their rights discover the principles of food sovereignty, their reaction is often “Yes! That’s what we’re doing!” On the front lines, the common roots of resistance are quickly recognized. Food justice2 is one such struggle. The radical roots of food justice in the United States are deep in the movement for Black Liberation. In the 1960s, following on historical traditions of self-care by African American communities,the Black Panthers brought food, health services, housing and education to their neighborhoods—placing them under community control. Food was one plank in a larger platform for liberation: freedom from hunger and police brutality were sovereign rights. One does not sell Today’s struggles confront hunger and violence at the intersection of race, class and gender, driving Food Justice to its radical roots of resistance—and the earth upon which toward food sovereignty. In this edition, we share perspectives on the power- ful and mutually enriching convergence of food justice and food sovereignty. the people walk Eric Holt-Giménez, Food First Tashunka Witko, 1840 –1877 1 - http://usfoodsovereigntyalliance.org/what-is-food-sovereignty/ 2 - http://foodfirst.org/issue-area/us-food-justice/ subscribe online now! Who we are In the last years hundreds of organisations and movements have been www.nyeleni.org engaged in struggles, activities, and various kinds of work to defend and __________ promote the right of people to Food Sovereignty around the world. Many of these organisations were present in the International Nyéléni Forum Help us to build the 2007 and feel part of a broader Food Sovereignty Movement, that con- siders the Nyéléni 2007 declaration as its political platform. The Nyéléni Food Sovereignty movement Newsletter wants to be the voice of this international movement. from the grassroots. Organisations involved: Development Fund, FIAN, Focus on the Global Every contribution counts: South, Food First, Friends of the Earth International, GRAIN, Grassroots International, IPC for food sovereignty, La Via Campesina, Marcha Mun- Support the Nyéléni newsletter. dial de las Mujeres, Oxfam Solidarity, Real World Radio, The World Forum Bank: BANCA POPOLARE ETICA SCPA, Of Fish Harvesters & Fish Workers, TNI, VSF-Justicia Alimentaria Global, BRANCH IN SPAIN WhyHunger. Account holder: Asociación Lurbide – El Camino de la Tierra IBAN: ES2315500001220000230821 BIC/SWIFT code: ETICES21XXX now is time for food sovereignty ! Nyéléni Newsletter | No. 23 www.nyeleni.org 1 Box 1 In the spotlight 1 Definition of Food Justice Racism and Capitalism Food Justice refers to a wide spectrum of efforts that address injustices within Our modern food system has co-evolved with 30 years of neoliberal globalization the U.S. food system. that privatized public goods and deregulated all forms of corporate capital, world- wide. This has led to the highest levels of global inequality in history. The staggering Weak forms of food justice focus on the social and environmental costs of this transition have hit people of color the hardest, effects of an inequitable food system, reflected in the record levels of hunger and massive migrations of impoverished while stronger forms of food justice fo- farmers in the global South, and the appalling levels of food insecurity, diet-related cus on the structural causes of those diseases, unemployment, incarceration, and violence in underserved communities inequities. of color in the global North. The U.S. food movement has emerged in response to the failings of the global food For example, reformist projects for food system. Everywhere, people and organizations are working to counteract the exter- justice work to provide food access in un- nalities inherent to the “corporate food regime.” Understandably, they focus on one derserved communities to alleviate food or two specific components—such as healthy food access, market niches, urban ag- insecurity and/or strive to improve food riculture, etc.—rather than the system as a whole. But the structures that determine and labor conditions within the industrial the context of these hopeful alternatives remain solidly under control of the rules and food system through niche markets (e.g. institutions of the corporate food regime. organic and fair trade certification). Neoliberal globalization has also crippled our capacity to respond to the problems in the food system by destroying much of our public sphere. Not only have the health, education, and welfare functions of government been gutted; the social networks within our communities have been weakened, exacerbating the violence, intensify- ing racial tensions, and deepening cultural divides. People are challenged to con- front the problems of hunger, violence, poverty, and climate change in an environ- ment in which social and political institutions have been restructured to serve global markets rather than local communities. Notably, the food justice movement has stepped up—supported largely by the non- profit sector—to provide services and enhance community agency in our food sys- tems. Consciously or not, in many ways the community food movement, with its hands-on, participatory projects for a fair, sustainable, healthy food system, is re- Progressive forms of food justice take building our public sphere from the ground up. This is simply because it is impossible this a step further by producing food to do one without reconstructing the other. (typically with organic, permaculture and/or agroecological methods) and But as many organizations have discovered, we can’t rebuild the public sphere working for more equitable access to without addressing the issues that divide us. For many communities this means ad- food-producing resources such as land, dressing racism in the food system. The food movement itself is not immune from credit and markets, and for better wages the structural injustices that it seeks to overcome. Because of the pervasiveness of and working conditions for all farmwork- white privilege and internalized oppression in our society, racism in the food system ers and food workers (not just those can and does resurface within the food movement itself, even when the actors have benefitting from niche markets). the best of intentions. Understanding why, where, and how racism manifests itself in the food system, recognizing it within our movement and our organizations and Radical food justice focus on redistrib- within ourselves, is not extra work for transforming our food system; it is the work. utive, structural transformations in the Understanding how capitalism functions is also the work, because changing the un- food system that build political power in derlying structures of a capitalist food system is inconceivable without knowing how underserved, exploited and oppressed the system functions in the first place. And yet many people trying to change the food communities—including people of system have scant knowledge of its capitalist foundations. color, immigrants, women, LGBTQ Luckily, this is changing as activists in the food movement dig deeper to fully un- people—and works to dismantle the derstand the system behind the problems they confront. Many people in the global laws, regulations, institutions and cul- South, especially peasants, fishers, and pastoralists, can’t afford not to understand tural norms that entrench corporate, the socio-economic forces destroying their livelihoods. Underserved communities monopoly and white, male privilege in of color in the global North—there as the result of recent and historical waves of the food system. colonization, dispossession, and exploitation—form the backbone of the food justice movement. Understanding why people of color are twice as likely to suffer from food Radical and progressive forms of food insecurity and diet-related disease— even though they live in affluent northern de- justice overlap with food sovereignty, a mocracies—requires an understanding of the inter- section of capitalism and racism. concept of international origin defined as people’s right to healthy and cultur- Activists across the food movement are beginning to realize that the food system ally appropriate food produced through cannot be changed in isolation from the larger economic system. To fully appreciate ecologically sound and sustainable the magnitude of the challenges we face and what will be needed to bring about a methods, and their right to define their new food system in harmony with people’s needs and the environment, we need own food and agriculture systems. to understand and confront the social, economic, and political foundations that cre- ated—and maintain—the food system we seek to change. NyéléniNyéléni Newsletter Newsletter | No.23 | No. 23 2 www.nyeleni.org
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Notes on the Practice of Food Justice in the US
    Notes on the practice of food justice in the U.S.: understanding and confronting trauma and inequity Rachel Slocum 1 Kirsten Valentine Cadieux Minneapolis, USA University of Minnesota, USA Abstract The lexicon of the U.S. food movement has expanded to include the term 'food justice.' Emerging after approximately two decades of food advocacy, this term frames structural critiques of agri-food systems and calls for radical change. Over those twenty years, practitioners and scholars have argued that the food movement was in danger of creating an 'alternative' food system for the white middle class. Alternative food networks drew on white imaginaries of an idyllic communal past, promoted consumer-oriented, market-driven change, and left yawning silences in the areas of gendered work, migrant labor, and racial inequality. Justice was often beside the point. Now, among practitioners and scholars we see an enthusiastic surge in the use of the term food justice but a vagueness on the particulars. In scholarship and practice, that vagueness manifests in overly general statements about ending oppression, or morphs into outright conflation of the dominant food movement's work with food justice (see What does it mean to do food justice? Cadieux and Slocum (2015), in this Issue). In this article, we focus on one of the four nodes (trauma/inequity, exchange, land and labor) around which food justice organizing appears to occur: acknowledging and confronting historical, collective trauma and persistent race, gender, and class inequality. We apply what we have learned from our research in U.S. and Canadian agri-food systems to suggest working methods that might guide practitioners as they work toward food justice, and scholars as they seek to study it.
    [Show full text]
  • Article JSSJ FPADDEU 2015 Mobilisations JE Et JA VF Anglaise Ve¦Ürifie¦Üe Avec Illustrations
    9/2016 From one movement to another? Comparing environmental justice activism and food justice alternative practices. Flaminia PADDEU , PhD in geography, member of the ENeC research laboratory, ATER at Sorbonne University (Paris, France), agrégée in geography and graduate from the École Normale Supérieure (Lyon, France). Abstract Food justice activism is generally considered to be an offshoot of environmental justice. We question this lineage based on empirical elements by comparing the two movements in terms of theoretical objectives, daily practices and strategies. Our material comes from the study of two grassroots movements in low-income neighborhoods in the United States – environmental justice in Hunts Point (South Bronx) and food justice in Jefferson-Mack (Detroit) – where we conducted field surveys between 2011 and 2013, interviewing more than sixty stakeholders. We demonstrate how environmental justice activism in the Bronx is the expression of a protest model, involving rallying against polluting infrastructures, whereas food justice alternative practices in Detroit are characterized by the organization of community food security networks. Despite similarities between the two movements, we strongly challenge their “lineage”. Not only do the types of collective action and the catalysts differ markedly, but each of the two movements has evolved relatively independently in the context of an assertion of the food justice movement. Key words South Bronx; Detroit; food justice; environmental justice; alternative practices. 1 1 9/2016 The food justice movement is generally considered to be an offshoot of the environmental justice movement, and the lineages between the two movements were first emphasized in the 1990s (Gottlieb & Fisher, 1996). The term food justice was first used in scientific journals specialized in environmental justice such as Race, Poverty and the Environment (Gottlieb & Fisher, 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • “Access”: Rhetorical Cartographies of Food
    TROUBLING “ACCESS”: RHETORICAL CARTOGRAPHIES OF FOOD (IN)JUSTICE AND GENTRIFICATION by CONSTANCE GORDON B.A., San Francisco State University, 2011 M.A., University of Colorado Boulder, 2015 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Communication 2018 ii This dissertation entitled: Troubling “Access”: Rhetorical Cartographies of Food (In)Justice and Gentrification written by Constance Gordon has been approved for the Department of Communication Phaedra C. Pezzullo, Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Karen L. Ashcraft, Ph.D. Joe Bryan, Ph.D. Lisa A. Flores, Ph.D. Tiara R. Na’puti, Ph.D. Peter Simonson, Ph.D. Date The final copy of this dissertation has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. IRB Protocol #17-0431 iii Gordon, Constance (Ph.D., Communication) Troubling “Access”: Rhetorical Cartographies of Food (In)Justice and Gentrification Dissertation directed by Professor Phaedra C. Pezzullo ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the rhetorical and spatiotemporal relationships between food politics and gentrification in the contemporary U.S. developing city foodscape. Specifically, I explore a seemingly innocent, yet incredibly powerful key term for the food movement today: “access.” The concern over adequate food access for the food insecure has become a national conversation, as everyone from governments to corporations, non-profits to grassroots advocates, have organized interventions to bring healthy food to those most in need. In rapidly developing cities, however, these politics have become particularly complicated, as new food amenities often index or contribute to gentrification, including the displacement of the very people supposedly targeted for increased food access.
    [Show full text]
  • Electronic Green Journal Volume 1, Issue 43 Development And
    Electronic Green Journal Volume 1, Issue 43 Development and validation of the Just Community Gardening Survey: A measure of the social and dietary outcomes of community garden participation Kate G. Burt and Kathleen Delgado Lehman College, City University of New York; Hostos Community College, City University of New York, United States Introduction The food justice movement (food movement) seeks to promote equity in the food system by establishing the production, processing, distribution, and access to healthy food as a right to communities (Purifoy, 2014). Issues within the food system addressed by localized food movements include eliminating food insecurity, reducing disparities in diet-related disease, creating equal access to healthy food, and expanding healthy alternatives to processed food (Freudenberg, McDonough, & Tsui, 2011). One proposed strategy to increase community control and access to healthy, culturally appropriate food is community gardening. Community gardens promote important aspects of food justice, providing a physical space to connect with community members and improve community cohesion, organizational capacity, and social networks (Armstrong, 2000; Teig et al., 2009). Communities of color and those with low-incomes, in particular, realize the social benefits of community gardens have used coalitions built in the garden to address neighborhood issues (Armstrong, 2000). Community garden participation (CGP) has also been used for civic engagement as a platform to develop partnerships, conduct education, and as a site to strengthen community members’ relationships (Gonzalez, 2015). CGP may also produce dietary benefits to community members. While the purpose of CGP is not necessarily food production, many community gardeners grow food and report increased access to fruits and vegetables and increased food security (Draper & Freedman, 2010).
    [Show full text]
  • Alliance Building in the Food Sovereignty Movement: Perspectives from Activists Advocating for Farmworker Justice and Agrarian Justice
    The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Master's Theses Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects Spring 5-21-2021 Alliance Building in the Food Sovereignty Movement: Perspectives from Activists Advocating for Farmworker Justice and Agrarian Justice Sarah Ruszkowski [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/thes Recommended Citation Ruszkowski, Sarah, "Alliance Building in the Food Sovereignty Movement: Perspectives from Activists Advocating for Farmworker Justice and Agrarian Justice" (2021). Master's Theses. 1380. https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/1380 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Alliance Building in the Food Sovereignty Movement: Perspectives from Activists Advocating for Farmworker Justice and Agrarian Justice Sarah Ruszkowski A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of San Francisco in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Migration Studies The College of Arts and Sciences May 2021 2 Alliance Building in the Food Sovereignty Movement: Perspectives from Activists Advocating for Farmworker Justice and Agrarian Justice In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER IN MIGRATION STUDIES by Sarah Ruszkowski May 2021 UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO Under the guidance and approval of the committee, and approval by all the members, this thesis project has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree.
    [Show full text]
  • Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations: a Review
    sustainability Review Food Insecurity in Advanced Capitalist Nations: A Review Michael A. Long 1,*, Lara Gonçalves 1, Paul B. Stretesky 2 and Margaret Anne Defeyter 3 1 Department of Sociology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA; [email protected] 2 Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE18ST, UK; [email protected] 3 Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7XA, UK; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 27 March 2020; Accepted: 28 April 2020; Published: 1 May 2020 Abstract: Food insecurity is a substantial problem in nearly every advanced capitalist nation, with sizable portions of residents in many affluent countries struggling to eat healthily every day. Over time, a very large literature has developed that documents food insecurity, evaluates programs meant to reduce that insecurity, and proposes solutions to attenuate the problem. The purpose of the current review is to provide a very broad overview of the food insecurity literature, including definitions, measurement, areas of study, and impacts on health. Importantly, this review suggests there are two major causes of food insecurity in the advanced nations: economic inequality and neoliberalism. The food insecurity literature suggests that diminished government responsibility in advanced capitalist nations corresponds to an increase in feeding programs run by non-profit and charitable organizations. This review concludes by suggesting that, while a massive amount of research on food insecurity currently exists, more research is still needed to address gaps in the literature when it comes to significant events, coping strategies and disadvantaged populations.
    [Show full text]
  • What's Missing from the Discussion of “Food Deserts”? Sarah R. Atkinson
    Sarah R. Atkinson Food Desert Discourse Spring 2016 What’s Missing from the Discussion of “Food Deserts”? An analysis of discursive justice in “food desert” related articles in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times from 2008-2015 Sarah R. Atkinson ABSTRACT In this study, I analyzed articles on the topic of “food deserts” from three popular U.S. newspapers, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times, from 2008- 2015. I identified narrative trends within the articles surrounding issues of invisibility, racism and solution building. I also analyzed writings and talks from two food justice organizations and one food justice advocate: Planting Justice, Food First and LaDonna Redmond. Using their narrative perspectives, I examined what was missing from the discourse around “food deserts” in the news media. These contrasting perspectives and framing of “food deserts” allowed me to explore the general designation of “food desert” and its creation of place and representation of the affected community. In conclusion, I put forth some alternative ways of discussing “food deserts” and “food insecurity” in the United States and examine racism and income inequality as the core causes of these social issues. This paper is part of a larger social discussion around rebuilding our current social structure and physical infrastructure in order to build a more equitable and just society. KEYWORDS Food insecurity, food justice, food access, social justice, racial justice, income inequality 1 Sarah R. Atkinson Food Desert Discourse Spring 2016 INTRODUCTION never trust anyone who says they do not see color. this means to them you are invisible.
    [Show full text]
  • Austerity Agendas and the Limits of a Toronto Food Movement Led by Non-Profits Laura Lepper a Thesis Submitte
    TO FIGHT FOR FOOD? AUSTERITY AGENDAS AND THE LIMITS OF A TORONTO FOOD MOVEMENT LED BY NON-PROFITS LAURA LEPPER A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN GEOGRAPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN GEOGRAPHY YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO September 2012 © Laura Lepper, 2012 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-91773-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-91773-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation.
    [Show full text]
  • Food Justice and Practices in the Five Points Community of Knoxville, Tennessee: a Survey of Residents Living in an Urban Food Desert
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2017 Food Justice and Practices in the Five Points Community of Knoxville, Tennessee: A Survey of Residents Living in an Urban Food Desert Sylvia Isabel Duluc-Silva University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the African Languages and Societies Commons, Food Security Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, and the Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons Recommended Citation Duluc-Silva, Sylvia Isabel, "Food Justice and Practices in the Five Points Community of Knoxville, Tennessee: A Survey of Residents Living in an Urban Food Desert. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2017. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4733 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Sylvia Isabel Duluc-Silva entitled "Food Justice and Practices in the Five Points Community of Knoxville, Tennessee: A Survey of Residents Living in an Urban Food Desert." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Sociology.
    [Show full text]
  • Agroecology and Alternative Agri-Food Movements in the United States: Toward a Sustainable Agri-Food System
    Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 37:115–126, 2013 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 2168-3565 print/2168-3573 online DOI: 10.1080/10440046.2012.735633 Agroecology and Alternative Agri-Food Movements in the United States: Toward a Sustainable Agri-Food System MARGARITA FERNANDEZ, KATHERINE GOODALL, MERYL OLSON, and V. ERNESTO MÉNDEZ Plant and Soil Science Department, University of Vermont, Burlington, USA The concept of agroecology in the United States is born out of a dialectical process of co-production of knowledge whereby the sci- ence of agroecology has shaped and been shaped by alternative agri-food movements, policy, and local practice. This article exam- ines the relationship between agroecology and alternative agri-food movements and identifies opportunities for greater engagement. The article concludes with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities to scaling up agroecology and sustainable agri-food systems. KEYWORDS agroecology, agri-food movements, food systems, food sovereignty, food policy councils, urban agriculture INTRODUCTION In the last 15 years, movements for just and sustainable food systems in the United States have burst onto the national stage. Local action on sustainable Downloaded by [University of Vermont] at 08:54 19 December 2012 and organic agriculture, community food security, food justice, food sovereignty, urban agriculture, local food policy, childhood obesity, local foodsheds, and direct farmer to consumer marketing is expanding across the country (Allen 2004; Holt-Giménez and Shattuck 2011; Mares and Alkon 2011). Most practitioners in the U.S. alternative agri-food movements do not use the term agroecology, but are guided by the same ecological and social Many thanks to Annie Shattuck for contributions on an earlier version of this article.
    [Show full text]
  • Food Justice and Agriculture Aknowledgments Introduction
    9/2016 Food Justice and Agriculture Camille Hochedez , PhD in geography, is a senior lecturer at the University of Poitiers, and a researcher in the team EA2252 RURALITES Julie Le Gall , PhD in geography, is a senior lecturer at the University of Lyon, Ecole normale supérieure of Lyon, and a researcher for the research team Environnement Ville Société (Biogéophile) Aknowledgments The authors would like to thank Myriam Laval, Luc Merchez, Max Rousseau, Elodie Valette. Our stimulating debates within the research project « Marguerite » (Université de Lyon, ENS de Lyon, UMR 5600 EVS) really have contributed to inform our discussions for this paper. Introduction The renewal of the relations between urban and rural areas has been marked, in recent years, by the emergence of many initiatives for the solidarity of urban spaces or their reconnection with agricultural environments, via the food register (as found with local markets or agricultural shows for example). However, while agriculture has never been so widely talked about – urban and peri-urban agriculture in particular (Poulot, 2014, 2015) – a gap persists between some disadvantaged areas and agricultural spaces, even when these are close (Alkon and Agyeman, 2011; see also Beisher and Corbett in this issue). This gap is all the more striking since, conversely, initiatives that link communities to ‘small local farmers’ have become a habit for well- educated and wealthy populations, whether in the Global North or in the Global South. Not all consumers actually benefit from farm products in their daily food routine. Finding that the return of agriculture has been mediatized but highly “selective” is what brought us to focus on this area for this issue of JSSJ.
    [Show full text]
  • The Radical Potential of the Food Justice Movement
    ISSN: 1941-0832 The Radical Potential of the Food Justice Movement By Nancy Romer FARMERS‟ MARKET PHOTO BY NANCY ROMER RADICAL TEACHER 5 http://radicalteacher.library.pitt.edu No. 98 (Winter 2014) DOI 10.5195/rt.2014.78 he two main threats to our people and planet are leadership of those most oppressed by the system, and, climate change and corporate control of our economy most importantly, create alliances and broad strategic 1 T and polity. These intertwined issues will take a mass approaches, the more our movements will sustain us in the movement of epic proportions to shift. Time is of the future. The FJM has the potential to tackle cross-cutting essence as climate, economic, and political disasters keep issues of equality, environment, democracy, resilience, occurring, gaining in intensity, impoverishing people while health , and power. It also has the potential to bring in enriching the transnational and national corporations. crucial leadership of youth, people of color, women, the Agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership could further poor and working class -- the people most marginalized by strip national governments of their rights to protect labor the present food system -- and unite across class, race, and the environment in favor of protecting corporate gender, language, and nation. profits. The need to build dynamic and effective Many North Americans and Europeans think of the movements that embody our needs is an imperative for “food movement” as “foodies” and gardeners: people who those who believe that only democratic struggles, led by want to make sure they have their organic arugula and the most oppressed and joined by allies, can create a new those who enjoy growing their own.
    [Show full text]